So Be It
by NefariaBlack
Summary: In an AU where the Augurey is born seventeen years earlier, a prophecy remains. Though some things shall never happen, the tally of death remains the same. Warning for murder.


_Author's Notes: There was a warning in the summary, I hope you read it. That being said, enjoy._

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**So be it**

Bellatrix woke up to the sound of her crying child. She raised her head from the pillow that smelled of sandalwood and immediately ceased moving. She wanted to run to her daughter and soothe her back to sleep, but she would not risk disturbing her Master.

Lord Voldemort was asleep on the other side of the bed; an arm slumped across her bare back, a hand resting possessively on her right buttock. She could hear his steady breathing, and feel the push of the air against her curls. She knew what sort of consequences waking him could have, but her child was crying, and whatever the house-elf was doing was, quite clearly, not working. The Dark Lord did not wake for crying babies, though, not even his own blood.

He had become more and more feral since the birth of their child, his cruel streak running loose, sparing no one but his precious Augurey. Bellatrix had enjoyed some lenience during the first months of their daughter's life, but there was no tolerance for her now. Once Delphini had been weaned, Bellatrix had been drawn right into the fight again, which had only spiralled out of control, into more and more violent skirmishes and then full out battles. The Ministry had recently given Aurors permission to use Unforgivables against them, and things had only deteriorated. Despite how eager she had been to return to battle during her pregnancy, and even during those first three months of her daughter's life, Bellatrix often found herself resenting the war, often found herself craving the scent of caramel that emanated from her baby, although she never, ever, resented Lord Voldemort for commanding her to leave her.

Delphini was kept safe here, at Malfoy Manor, hidden away from the world, a secret that only those closest to the Dark Lord knew of. To Wizarding Britain, Bellatrix had fallen victim to a vicious curse that had taken her months to recover from, and there was a myriad of rumours going about what sort of curse had hit her, and about who had done it. For an entire year, Death Eaters infiltrated conversations after conversations, making sure to divert them into the swamp of hearsay. According to their reports to the Dark Lord, no one had even considered the possibility of her conceiving a child, let alone one that was not by her husband, like most Death Eaters thought. Still, there were all manner of security measures, the least of which were Unbreakable Vows and Fidelius Charms.

To make matters worse, her Master had become paranoid about Delphini and her role in his movement. She was too little, nowhere near as powerful as he needed her to be, but he was obsessed about her magical ability. There was a prophecy about her, Bellatrix knew. It was the only reason she had been allowed to carry her, to even become pregnant with her, but something was amiss. She didn't know what it was, but the Dark Lord had clearly found a hitch in his plans, something wrong with their precious Augurey.

There was another prophecy plaguing him, one about a child that would destroy him, and she could only hope that one had nothing to do with the other, though her mind kept reminded her that the prophesized destroyer and the Augurey shared a birth month. And possibly a birthday.

Bellatrix dared move a leg, just bending it at the knee. Lord Voldemort didn't even flinch, so she dared move the other and turn her hips away from him. There was some pain at that, and she knew that there would be bruises on her waist and on her hips, in the shape of her Master's hands. He had become unhinged even when taking her, not that he had ever been tender, or cared much about her pleasure if it was not a means to his. He never truly hurt her, but he had started taking her at odd hours, with a rashness that was not usual, as if he was chasing something that he could never reach. He had enjoyed looking at her before, watching her come apart by his touch alone, but not anymore. Now, she found herself pressed face down on the bed almost every night, being pounded from behind for a couple of fleeting minutes while he huffed above her, only to succumb to slumber immediately after his completion. As little as he seemed to care about her, he never allowed her to leave his bed. Even when Delphini cried, she feared waking him.

But he was deep asleep now, so Bellatrix took a deep breath and slithered form under his arm, taking care to place her pillow where her body had been just a second ago. She walked across the regal bedroom, looking dignified without being pompous, and she watched her own reflex in the tall mirror in the corner. A slender creature, with a little more curve to her after becoming a mother, walking naked in the moonlight; her pale skin almost shining, the contrast of her black mane of curls only accentuating her complexion. She caressed the necklace that hanged between her breasts. It had been a gift from her Master upon confirmation of her pregnancy. There were curses on it, she knew, for the silver skull of a bird hummed with dark magic in her hand; placed there for her protection. _For Delphini's protection while she carried her_, her mind corrected her.

Delphini, who now cried loudly across the hallway, calling her. Bellatrix picked up her dressing gown from the floor, not caring for the nightdress that lay ripped not far from it, and quickly slid her arms through the sleeves, relishing the touch of satin on her skin. She walked has she dressed, invisibly drawn to her child. She had never wanted children, never really liked the idea of having them, even slightly despised those witches that made their entire lives about motherhood, but something had changed deep inside her the same day her Master had told her that he needed an heir. Her mind told her that it was her reverence rationalizing something she had never truly wished, that she found herself wanting not to be a mother but to have _his _child. Something altogether different had clicked the day Delphini was born, though. A tie she had no knowledge of previously, a tether between the two of them. An irresistible urge to care for her child, to protect her from absolutely everything and anything. She had held her daughter in her arms and silently promised her that she would always keep her safe.

oOo

Once inside Delphini's room, her wand emerged from her sleeve to jolt the house-elf away from her precious Augurey. She heard the glass bottle drop to the floor, but it did not shatter. All things that went anywhere near Delphini were charmed to be safe for her. Bellatrix made sure it was so, under the silent approval of her Master. Together, they held a tight grip on the surroundings of their daughter, controlling everything to the best of their abilities, and leaving very little, if anything at all, to chance.

She heard her daughter sniffle in the crib, still out of her sight, and the house-elf crack away in its disappearance, and her heart nearly yanked her forward. She was quick to wrap her arms around Delphini, picking her up with slow gestures, but swiftly taking a thumb to her cheeks, damp from tears, and petting them away.

"It's alright, my precious little bird, Mother's here," she whispered to the tiny shell of Delphini's ear, almost translucent under the cool light of the moon, "Mother will always be here." She petted Delphini's back while she settled in a comfortable armchair, levitating the bottle from the floor to her daughter's waiting chubby hands.

She was a little over a year now and always vigilant in her thirst for the world that surrounded her. Bellatrix watched the reflection of the bottle in the immense darkness of Delphini's eyes, propping the bottle just enough to fool her daughter into believing that she was holding it alone. She was a stubborn little witch, one that had no issue with screaming at the top of her lungs to have her way, or to clumsily hiss syllables, just like she did with little attempts of words. She was never stubborn in the presence of the Dark Lord, though, as if even her growing mind knew to be on her best behaviour around the dark magic that webbed round her father. Lord Voldemort did not touch this precious creature of his, not even with his magic, preferring to keep himself at a distance, but he came to see her almost daily, more out of obsession than out of true care, Bellatrix knew. He was appraising her, determining her value to his cause, figuring out how soon she could be put to use.

Bellatrix brushed such thoughts aside, as she brushed one heavy, dark lock of hair away from her daughter's pale forehead. She too had a complexion of ivory, like her mother did, like her father used to have before the darkest of spells had marred his skin. She did not like to dwell on it, but Bellatrix was well aware that this daughter of hers was a means to an end. The end was obvious, but the means eluded her. Was it Delphini's magic? Was it her blood of Slytherin? Was it her blood in itself? Bellatrix could feel her sanity being tugged at and ripped by every possibility, for whatever the scenario she tried to conjure; it seemed Delphini was never quite unharmed in the end.

But her daughter was happy in her arms now, pushing the bottle away from her now that it was devoid of milk. She brushed away a single drop of white from Delphini's rosy lips, and hummed, low in her chest. It was a tune her own mother used to sing to her and her sisters, back when they were little. Back when they were three. Bellatrix could not remember the lyrics, and she would not dare sing for fear of waking her Master, but she could hum a lullaby to her daughter, and watch her daughter's eyelids grow heavy with sleep and slowly descend on her dark eyes. She held her in her arms for a long while, relishing in the heat of her sleeping body, in her smell of caramel and lotion, in this false security they had here, together and alone the two of them.

"I'll always protect you, my precious little bird. Nothing will ever hurt you, no one will ever harm you," she promised her once more, as she had that first time she had held her. A tiny corner in her mind seemed to expand and screech and claw at her conscience, screaming _Lies, lies, lies!_

For it was a lie, there was one thing she could not protect this child from, but she refused to face it. She pushed the screaming part of her mind away, back to the tight corner she kept it in. She could not let it come to that. She had to find a way around her Master's obsession, a way to control his hunger for his child's powers, a way to keep Delphini safe amidst a war that endangered them all.

And so her mind was lost to thought, to pretending that everything would be well.

oOo

She felt a presence creep into the room, and she had to keep from jolting when it crept into her mind. She dared not raise her Occlumency barriers, not against Lord Voldemort, she had never dared to hide her thoughts from him, not like that. Which was not to say that she did not defy him in other ways, smaller ways, like simply pushing some thoughts aside while pulling others to the front of her mind.

"What are you doing here?"

His voice pierced the air around them as much as it pierced her mind.

"She was crying, Master. The house-elf was no help," she hurriedly added, before he could point that they had one with the exclusive task of taking care of Delphini, "I am sorry if I disturbed your rest, Master." She kept her eyes low; fearing that Lord Voldemort might tear through all of her thoughts should their dark eyes meet.

"She isn't anymore. She is asleep. Leave her in her crib and go back to bed, Bella."

She had always been _Bella_, she would always be _Bella_ whenever he addressed her, but never, ever, in her years of service had his tone been so cold. His voice was a frigid, nearly hissing, thing that lashed her into action. She rose slowly, and took a second to stand still while Delphini fussed in her arms for a moment, then she walked to the crib and placed her in it, carefully tucking the greenish-grey blanket around her. She walked towards the door, bowing her head as she went past Lord Voldemort.

She stopped at the threshold, looking over her shoulder to the tall figure of the Dark Lord, standing preternaturally still in the middle of the room, clutching his bone-white wand in his hands and behind his back, his head slightly tilted, almost as if he were appreciating his sleeping daughter like any other father might.

"Go back to bed, Bella."

His order snapped her out of her reveries, and Bellatrix stiffly walked away, back into his room. She could hear him talk still, but it was Parseltongue, and that was a skill he could not teach her, an ability only their daughter shared with him. It drove frozen fingers down her spine, creating ripples that spread over her ribs and made her shiver with her whole body. She had heard him speak Parseltongue often enough that she recognized patterns in his speech. He had a habit of talking to himself when they were alone, a way to organize his mind, she suspected. She could not grasp the meaning of his hissed words, but she knew it pertained to the prophecy. Or to one of them.

He didn't take long to follow her, to take her body once more, this time making sure to take her mind as well. He hissed words into the shell of her ear as he touched her, and kissed her, and whispered spells that heightened her senses. And he took, and took, and took, until she forgot her concerns, and all that she was, to a blindingly white oblivion that deafened all other sounds in the world and burned through her skin and every single inch of her body.

Bellatrix came back into her mind to find herself splayed on the bed, with her Master atop her, pushing himself into her with a hint of a cruel smile at the corner of his lips. His lips that shined because of her, the cruel glint in his eyes spreading as he revelled in his ability to undo her. He closed his eyes as hers focused, his expression becoming nearly painful as he found his own pleasure inside her.

Her mind sang in giddiness, for he had touched her like he used to. He had taken his pleasure more from the sight of her lost in the throes of lust than from the physical act of taking her body. Bellatrix succumbed to sleep in his arms, wrapped possessively as always, but feeling somewhat different, somewhat soothed and not suffocated by them.

_Lies, lies, lies! _A tiny voice in her mind dared whisper, but she smothered it.

oOo

It wasn't until the next morning that she saw the error in her ways. Her Master was not in bed with her, and her body lazily moved in between the sheets, her arms searching for his pillow so that she could drown in the smell of sandalwood. Her body was lazy, and tired, and so was mind, drifting slowly from slumber to awareness in the shy sunlight. A sleepy mind lacked control over the dark corners where the most dangerous thoughts lurked.

So the dark thought in the corner grew and growled and Bellatrix sat up on the bed as if the mattress were on fire.

The Dark Lord had seen it all. He had combed through every fear of hers, she was sure, for never was her mind so exposed to him as when she lost herself to his caresses. That was what had put the cruelty in his hint of a smile, the knowledge he had gathered from her, the control he so undeniably had over her. _His most faithful_, he had proclaimed her time and time again, when he welcomed her into his cause, then into his inner circle, eventually into his bed. Last night, his touching had been a means to an end and she had failed to see it amidst her faith. Last night, he had read her motherly mind and assumed her weaker for it; she was sure, for he had found it loving.

Bellatrix got up and put on the dressing gown once more, wrapping it tightly around her body, fighting a chill that had nothing to do with the autumn morning. She walked to her child's nursery, both fearing and wishing that she would find Lord Voldemort there.

He wasn't there. There was only Delphini, still asleep, breathing evenly, completely unaware of her fate.

Bellatrix walked to her own room this time. The one that had a bed she had slept in for the scarce few weeks after Delphini's birth that her Master saw fit to allow her, before he took her back, before he claimed her back, body and soul and mind and magic. It was a dressing room, no more, with a white bathroom in which she hurriedly washed herself, forcing her wild curls into a braid that fell over her shoulder. As she dressed in simple attire, Bellatrix felt the silver pendant be pressed against her chest by her clothes, followed by an unnameable urge to pull it off her neck.

Her right hand wrapped around the bird skull, feeling the hum of dark magic against its soft palm, but it froze just before Bellatrix could order it to break the necklace. The pendant was meant to protect her while she was pregnant, which meant it was bound to protect Delphini, not her.

She carefully pulled the necklace over her head, staring at it all along. She walked back to the nursery, only the clicking of her heels to be heard, and gently placed the magical amulet around Delphini's neck, taking a moment to shrink the silver string to a size that would not hinder nor hurt the little girl.

This was dangerous, and well beyond wise, but maybe, just maybe, that necklace could do what Bellatrix had promised to, even when she knew that she could not. Maybe, just maybe, that necklace could shield the child from her own father's magic, from his hunger for power.

oOo

Lord Voldemort stood at the door of the nursery, watching the witch he had singled out as the purest, the worthiest, the darkest of his servants be reduced to something useless by love.

"And so you have defied me three times, Bella."

The willowy witch turned on the balls of her feet, completely unaware of his presence until then. She was a beautiful creature, a dark creature, a wonderful weapon made flesh that he took pleasure in unleashing upon his foes, but there was a crack to her, and love had crept inside.

He saw it as she understood the meaning behind his words, for though he had never told her of the prophecy that pertained to his heir, he had told her of the prophecy about the child who would be his undoing. And she was quick to see the consequence of it all.

"No, Master, I beg of you. I am not worthy of you, but spare her," she had somehow managed to keep her voice from betraying the screams he heard from her mind.

"Would you betray me so, Bella? She will be the one to destroy me, and you would take her side?"

"She will not, Master! You know it, she is your heir. She will be your glory-"

"Move aside, Bella, get away from the crib."

He feared not the necklace; he knew exactly how far its power extended. No, he feared the dark haired and dark eyed child of his own blood, of his most faithful's blood, that now cried in the crib, awakened by their voices. She had been born as the seventh month died, her mother had thrice defied him, Delphini could not be his glory. She would be his ruin if he let her live.

"No, Master!"

There was no fear to Bellatrix's voice, just as he expected. There was no fear to her when she shielded the crib with her own body.

_So be it_, he thought, as he cast a Killing Curse on the witch he had deemed the worthiest. He had made her, moulded her; he could undo her too. If he had to kill her to get to the girl who would kill him if allowed to live, he would.

Lord Voldemort let the green light fly from his wand to the chest of his most faithful, and he watched, stone-faced and unfeeling, as the purest blood of wizarding kind fell lifeless to the floor. He would allow no one to control his fate, not even his own blood.

_So be it_, he thought once more, as he let the murderous incantation leave his lips again, this time pointing the wand at the crying little girl with the silver bird skull pendant in the crib.

And his world faded to her immense dark eyes alone, before it disappeared in an explosion of pain and green.

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_Author's Notes: Reviews are always welcome, so please don't go without leaving a tiny one._

_Assignment #2 Anatomy and Physiology Task #3: Write about someone trying to control something or someone._

_Writing Club January – Disney Challenge Characters Frollo - Write about someone ruthless; Showtime 15. Yo Girl: (relationship) parent Book Club Chikako: (word) pale, (drink) tea, (object) mirror; Amber's Attic 7. Black Canary: Write about a mother and her child. (5 bonus points); Liza's Loves 15. Write about someone upset/crying; Angel's Arcade Soundtrack 5. Sight Unseen by Rise Against: write about gaining courage for something; Lo's Lowdown Characters 9. Rutabega: write about making promises you can't keep; Bex Basement 19. All I Ask, by Adele - Why don't we just play pretend, like we're not scared of what's coming next. [Bonus]; Film Festival 10. (action) Running and 27. (object) Dressing Gown;_

_Winter Seasonal Challenge – Days of the Year: March 18th - Supreme Sacrifice Day: Alt, write about someone sacrificing themselves; Winter Prompts: (word) Sniffle; Colour Prompts: Ivory; Flowers: Hydrangea** -** (object) Necklace; Elemental Challenge: (word) Damp; Slytherin House Challenge: (character) Bellatrix Lestrange, (ability) Parselmouth;_

_365 Prompts Challenge – 32. Moon_

_The Insane Prompt Challenge – (character) 85. Bellatrix Lestrange_

_Word count – 3,654_


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